So getting a port, was not as easy as I had anticipated. In fact it was not a pleasant experience at all. I really wasn't nervous about it at all until they told me that they sedate you less for the port, then they do for a colonoscopy...this was not the kind of news I was looking for. So the nurse explained what a port was and showed us a little book explaining it in very simple terms.Basically a port is a type of central catheter, or catheter leading to your big veins near your heart. There are two parts to the port; there is the actual port which is the size of three or so pennies stacked on top of each other. In the middle of a port is silicone type material, which allows you to access the port. Connected to the port is a small tube that fed into one of your central veins towards your heart. When a port is not accessed you simply have a bump underneath your skin, but to access the port, you have to stick a needle into the cushy middle and leave the needle there until it is un-acessed. I definitely did not realize that I was going to have two scars from the procedure. One two inch scar and one one inch scar, I guess I didn't think this through as much as I should have. So when they told me I wasn't going to be completely put under I started to freak out. Back in the operation room, I told the nurse that I would like to be as sedated as possible, and she told me she would do her best. Well towards the end of the procedure I started to freak out. I started crying and just freaking out, and I really have no idea why. They couldn't give me anymore sedation, because I had asked them to give me as much as possible, so instead they had to order some adivan up from the pharmacy, which took forever. Once I got the medicine, I started to calm down and they finished. I really didn't feel anything during the procedure, nor did it hurt, so at least that wasn't too traumatic.Bottom line is that I may have over done it on the medication, because for the rest of the day I couldn't stand up for long periods of time without feeling like I was going to pass out and I felt super nauseous. I also pretty much slept the rest of the day and night after getting home, so maybe I shouldn't have asked for so much medicine...oh well. They told me before the procedure that I was going to be sore afterwards. I am not sore. I am in pain. Yesterday I was in serious pain, but today it has gotten slightly better. They say the pain may be amplified because I am so thin and there isn't anything there to cushion the port, but whatever the reason, it hurts. I am hoping that it continues to heal quickly and stops hurting before I go back to school, but who knows.I am glad that I have the port and think it will end up being a good thing, but right now I am not so sure about it. I don't have full range of motion in my arm because of the pain and when I open my mouth, yawn, sneeze, or pretty much move at all the incision hurts, so I am just hoping and praying it stops hurting soon, so I can return to pretending to be normal in my not so normal life.

That looks a lot more painful than the other ports I've seen... of course the others I've seen had healed. I hope that yours heals quickly. I admire your ability to juggle this with school and wish you all the best.

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I've got 8 scars and am missing two feet of intestines and my life isn't normal, but whose life is normal? I want to use my experiences to help you, even if it means sharing embarrassing experiences. I am also looking to break the stigmas associated with IBD in order to make living with IBD just a little bit easier. Hope you enjoy!